US troops fully withdrawn from Iraq, official confirms

An Iraqi government official confirmed to news agency DPA on Sunday that United States troops have been completely withdrawn from Iraq. According to the official, both all US combat units and logistics support forces have left the country. No official confirmation has yet been issued by the US side.

Iraq and the US agreed on the troop withdrawal in 2024. In recent years, roughly 2,500 American soldiers had been stationed in Iraq, according to Pentagon figures — in Erbil in the Kurdish region, at a base near Baghdad airport, and in the capital's government district known as the Green Zone.

Historical background

The US and its allies launched a campaign against the terrorist organization Daesh in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group was declared militarily defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, though its cells remain active and continue to carry out occasional attacks, even though the group no longer controls the vast territories it once held in both countries.

Security conditions in Iraq have deteriorated again since February, when the US and Israel began a war against Iran. On Wednesday, when the official deadline for the troop withdrawal expires, Iraq will begin four official public holidays, planned to mark an "Independence Day," during which state institutions will be closed.

The original plan envisioned that, alongside the US troop withdrawal, militia groups ideologically close to Iran would be disarmed and integrated into Iraq's state security structures. This process is expected to conclude in June of next year.

The US and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003 despite international criticism, toppling dictator Saddam Hussein. American forces were withdrawn in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the request of the Iraqi government to fight Daesh.